INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball program will look to 'Cram the Coliseum' on Saturday (Jan. 21) when the Jaguars host Detroit Mercy (7-12, 3-5 HL) at noon inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The day will feature FREE pizza and FREE rally towels for IUPUI students in attendance and discounted tickets for IUPUI faculty, staff and alumni. 

Fans are asked to allow extra time for entrance into the Fairgrounds and parking on Saturday as the Indianapolis Home Show will also be taking place. 

IUPUI (3-17, 0-9 HL) dropped a heartbreaker to Oakland inside the Coliseum on Thursday night, falling in overtime, 83-77. The Jaguars led by as many as four in the closing minutes, but saw OU's Jalen Moore drill a trey with 3.0 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. He then scored nine of his game-high 27 in the extra period to help the Golden Grizzlies to the win. Freshman Vincent Brady II scored a career-high 23 points, including four treys, and sophomore Jlynn Counter tossed in 22 in the loss. Junior John Egbuta came off the bench to provide 13 points in the defeat. 

The Jaguars have had recent close calls with both Robert Morris and Oakland, but enter Saturday's contest still seeking a first Horizon League win this season. 
 
QUOTABLE
"Man, we fought tonight. We went toe-to-toe with one of the hottest teams in our league. Our freshmen and young guys grew up tonight. Down the stretch, we're out there with three freshmen going against juniors and seniors and playing well. I went in (the locker room) and told the guys how proud I am of them. We had our chances and fought our butts off to have a chance to win it. Credit to Oakland. They made the plays when they needed them," head coach Matt Crenshaw said following Thursday's defeat to Oakland. 

SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY
Detroit Mercy checks in at 7-12 overall and 3-5 in Horizon League play. The Titans boast one of the top players in all of college basketball in veteran guard Antoine Davis (26.2 ppg, 3.1 apg). Davis recently became NCAA Division I's all-time leader in threes made and has 3,232 career points to his name. The Titans are 2-10 away from home this season with victories at Purdue Fort Wayne and Tulsa. In addition to Davis, Gerald Liddell (17.3 ppg, 11.1 rpg) and Jayden Stone (13.9 ppg) also score in double-figures. Detroit Mercy leads the Horizon League in threes made per game with 10.1 makes per contest. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will hit the road to take on Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday (Jan. 25) at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. 

Tidbits heading into Saturday's game (click here for full game notes (.pdf))    
    INDY ELEVEN
    Nope, not referring to the city's USL soccer club - the 11 refers to the number of different players that have started at least one game for the Jaguars this season. While Chris Osten (20 starts), Vincent Brady II (19) and Jlynn Counter (17) have been fixtures among the starting five, the other two spots have been revolving doors. 
    Eight others have started at least once with Cooper Dewitt becoming the most recent to crack the starting unit. 

    CHRIS DON'T MISS
    Graduate transfer Chris Osten is currently shooting 66.7 percent for the season, chasing the school record for single-season shooting percentage (Jon Avery - 67.9 percent in 2008-09). The 6-foot-9 forward is shooting an absurd 79.6 percent from the field (43-of-54) at home this season. 
    Coming into this season, he had scored in double-digits just one time in his Division I career
in stops at both Arizona State and Northern Illinois, and never had a double-double. However,
in 19 games this season, Osten has hit double-figures 11 times and registered four double-doubles.

    OSTEN POWERS
    In the six games in the 2023 calendar year, graduate transfer Chris Osten has been nothing short of awesome. In those six contests, Osten is averaging 14 points per game while shooting a nearly ridiculous 78.3 percent (36-of-46) from the field. Osten had a career-high 21 points (8-10 FG, 5-7 FT) at Robert Morris on Monday, Jan. 9.

    BUTA EMERGES
    The past two games have seen a new star emerge off the IUPUI bench as John Egbuta has provided a huge lift. The New York-native has contributed 14.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while making 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) shots and 3-of-4 treys. 

    SEEING 20-20
    IUPUI had a pair of 20-point scorers against Oakland on Thursday as freshman Vincent Brady II had a career-high 23 points (8-16 FG, 4-9 3's, 3-3 FT) and Jlynn Counter tallied 22 (8-16 FG, 1-2 3's, 5-6 FT). It marked the first time under head coach Matt Crenshaw that two players have gone for 20-or-more in the same game. 

    THREE TIMES
    IUPUI freshman Vincent Brady II has won the #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Award three times this season, tied for tops in the league. Brady, a 6-foot-4 guard, is third on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) and rebounding (3.8 rpg) and leads the squad in minutes played (30.4 mpg) and threes made (31).
    Brady comes in having made at least one three in 15 straight games and in 18 of the team's 20 games this season.   

    FRESH DUBS
    It would appear that Brady will be hovering around double-digits in scoring all season long.  
    He had a stretch of four straight games with 15-or-more earlier this season, becoming the first IUPUI freshman to do so since Alex Young in 2008. 
    Freshmen scoring in double-digits has been a rarity for the IUPUI program as just two have done so in the program's Division I-era. Young went on to score 2,286 points in his four-year career and George Hill scored 1,619 points in three-plus seasons before being drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft. 
    Alex Young - 10.8 ppg (2008-09); George Hill - 10.7 ppg (2004-05)

    TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
    IUPUI is tops in the nation, having had 13 different players miss at least one game due to injury or illness, 11 of whom are scholarship student-athletes. Highest on the list are Zach Gunn (out for the season), Bryce Monroe (16 games missed) and DJ Jackson (11 games). Other scholarship student-athletes who have missed multiple games this season include Armon Jarrard (6 games), John Egbuta (5 games),  Cooper Dewitt (3 games), Amhad Jarrard (5 games) and Daylan Hamilton (2 games).
    Behind IUPUI, Wyoming, Vanderbilt and Iona have all had eight student-athletes miss time and both Dayton and Texas State have had seven miss time.  
    IUPUI has not had a game this season in which the entire roster was available. 

    SOLID AS A ROC
    Jlynn Counter, known as Roc, had a fantastic two-game Indiana Classic just before Christmas, averaging 25.0 points in the two contests. He had a career-high 27 points (10-19 FG, 7-7 FT) and five rebounds against Southern Indiana on Dec. 19 and followed up with 23 points (9-13 FG, 1-1 3's, 4-4 FT) in the Dec. 20 win over Texas A&M Commerce. 

    CALL IN THE CLOSER
    We're putting out a call for Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman or Jeff Brantley for that matter. With so many new faces and primarily young faces, head coach Matt Crenshaw is still seeking a closer to help in crunch time. 
    At Robert Morris on Jan. 9, IUPUI trailed 44-29 at halftime, but rallied to come all the way back in the second half. The Jaguars tied the game at 61 all and again at 63-63 before being outscored 14-7 over the game's first five-plus minutes in the 77-70 loss. 
    Against Oakland on Thursday (Jan. 19), IUPUI again rallied from a nine-point deficit and led by as many as four in the closing minutes before a Jalen Moore trey with 3.0 seconds left sent the game to overtime. Oakland outscored the Jags 15-9 in overtime to secure an 83-77 win, keeping the Jags winless in league play. 

    MAGIC MARLON
    On New Year's Eve against Northern Kentucky, Marlon Taylor took full advantage of a rare opportunity for extended action. Coming into the game, Taylor had exactly seven points and eight rebounds in his collegiate career, which began as a walk-on at Indiana State in 2018. He had made 16 prior appearances for the Jaguars and actually took two years away from basketball from 2020-2022. Suffice it to say, he likely wasn't on the scouting report. 
    With virtually half the active roster sidelined with injuries, Taylor was awarded 26 minutes of action and responded with a career-high eight points (4-8 FG), nine rebounds and two assists. 
    He later had a career-high 10 points (4-4 FG, 2-2 3's) at Youngstown State on Jan. 7, doing so in just 11 minutes of work.  

    FRESHIES    
    IUPUI rookies have combined on four #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Awards this season as Vincent Brady II is a three-time recipient and Armon Jarrard also collected an honor. 
    IUPUI has relied on freshmen since the start of the season as four have been among the team's regular rotation since DJ Jackson's return from injury on Dec. 31.  
    Here's a look at how the four have performed so far this season.     
Vincent Brady: 31.0 mpg (14th in the HL), 10.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 35 3's made (leads team)
Amhad Jarrard: 22.9 mpg (5th on the team), 5.7 ppg, 2.1 apg (3rd on the team), 7 steals
Armon Jarrard: 18.7 mpg (6th on the team), 4.3 ppg, 17 steals
DJ Jackson (9 games): 17.4 mpg, 4.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg

    FRESH STARTERS
    IUPUI had three freshmen in the starting lineup in the opener as Vincent Brady II, Amhad Jarrard and Armon Jarrard all got the starting nod. The trio, all of whom are Indianapolis natives, combined on four points, five boards and an assist in the opener at Iowa State. 
    A fourth freshman, DJ Jackson, made his first collegiate start on Dec. 31 against NKU. 

    TIGHTEN UP
    In the win over Texas A&M Commerce, IUPUI tightened up to an eight-man rotation by both necessity and success. Daylan Hamilton earned his second straight start and chipped in a career-high 14 points (5-10 FG, 4-7 FT) and four assists. Boston Stanton III, also making a second straight start, had four points and a career-high seven rebounds. 
    The only three that saw time off the bench were Armon Jarrard (5 pts), Jonah Carrasco (3 pts, 3 reb) and Cooper Dewitt (season-high 17 min). 

    4K
    IUPUI hosted its annual NCAA Readers Become Leaders game on Dec. 12 against Spalding University and had a program best 4,114 fans in attendance. The game attracted roughly 3,500 3rd graders from Central Indiana and stressed the importance of creating reading habits at a young age. The 4,114 fans easily surpassed the previous record for an IUPUI home game - 3,327 against Indiana State inside Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 23, 2008. 
    The previous record for an IUPUI game inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum was 3,159 in the inaugural game against Indiana State on Nov. 14, 2014. 

    THE MONROE EFFECT
    After missing the first three games of the season to injury, junior transfer Bryce Monroe came in and made a major impact in the Jaguars' lineup. In his four appearances, Monroe led the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg), despite suffering an injury in his third game back. More importantly, the team as a whole has improved its output. Without Monroe in the lineup, the Jags averaged just 53.4 points per game and scored 65.0 points per game with him available.
    The San Diego-transfer had a monster game at New Orleans on Nov. 24, pumping in 29 points (13-20 FG, 3-6 3's) and seven assists - both of which are the most by an IUPUI player this season. However, Monroe was injured during the New Orleans trip and is currently sidelined indefinitely.  

    LOOK AT THE ARC
    The three-point line has been a tell as to IUPUI's success, or struggles, this season. 
    As a whole, IUPUI ranks No. 349 (of 352) nationally in three-point percentage (27.3%) and No. 350 in threes made per game (4.3). 
    In IUPUI's 17 losses, opponents are shooting 39.9 percent from three and connecting on 8.8 threes per game, while outscoring the Jags by 13.6 points per game from deep. 
    In IUPUI's three wins, opponents are shooting just 13.3 percent from deep and connecting on just 2.6 threes per game. IUPUI is outscoring foes by five points per game from three and shooting a respectable 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. 

    BOOK WORMS
    The Jaguars put together a 3.03 team grade point average during the fall semester with 12 members of the team earning a 3.0 or better. Junior John Egbuta was most impressive with a perfect 4.0 mark during the fall.